Saturday, August 13, 2016

Iraq snapshot

Saturday, August 13, 2016. Chaos and violence continue, the refugee crisis continues, video posted by the Iraqi government appears to indicate White Phosphorus is again being used in Iraq, Cher goes on a tear, and much more.

Last month, President Obama raised the “cap” on the number of ground
troops in Iraq to 4,647. This cap has become something of a running
joke, as the Pentagon has repeatedly admitted to having well more troops
than that. Most recent estimates have over 6,000 US ground troops in
Iraq already, before this new deployment.

So how many US troops are now in Iraq?

As they used to say at the end of the old Tootsie Pop commercial ("How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"): "The world may never know."

Reporters are coming up empty handed in their attempts to obtain
precise figures as to how many U.S. troops are on the ground in Iraq and Syria.The Pentagon supplies the public with its Force Management Level (FML) for deployments to Iraq and Syria, which consists of full-time troops. FML data puts the total number of troops in Iraq at approximately 3,800 — with another 300 in Syria — but it does not include the number of temporary troops in the region.

The issue has become a sticking point, with critics pressing the Pentagon for more transparency.Some worry that officials are hiding the deepening U.S. involvement in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.The
pressure for the Pentagon to release the actual troop numbers comes as
the administration faces questions from both parties about the strategy
to fight ISIS and with no signs Congress is close to a deal on a war
authorization.

Jason Ditz (ANTIWAR.COM) explains, "Part of this is a function of the 'cap' negotiated with the Iraqi
government, as not disclosing the figure has allowed the Pentagon to
keep secret exactly how far above that cap they've already gone, while
allowing the Abadi government a bit of face-saving."

We were rightly outraged when Bully Boy Bush hid the coffins of the troops coming back from Iraq.

We should be just as outraged at Barack Obama for refusing to provide the numbers of troops going into Iraq.

We should also be paying attention.

And we need to pay attention what's being dropped on Iraq in the name of liberation.

The soar in birth defects in areas like Falluja directly stem from the US government's use of White Phosphorus and other illegal agents.

You may remember that, in the Bully Boy Bush years, the US government insisted no White Phosphorus was used -- until they were forced to admit, long after, that it was.

Does White Phosphorus suddenly become acceptable just because Barack's in the White House?

I don't think so.

Back in 2014, Thomas Gaist (WSWS) explained:In a report presented at the University of Michigan last Wednesday,
“The epidemic of birth defects in Iraq and the duty of public health
researchers,” Dr. Muhsin Al Sabbak, a gynecologist from Basra Maternity
Hospital, and Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicology
researcher, reviewed the ever-growing mountain of data showing that
rates of cancer, child cancer and birth defects (BD) have reached
historically unprecedented levels in Fallujah and other Iraqi cities
since the 2003 US invasion.The presenters argued that the extreme levels of pathological genetic
anomalies in Iraqi cities, documented by numerous studies, are being
generated by a hellish mixture of nano-particularized heavy metals and
other toxins generated by the US military occupation and heavy
bombardment of Iraqi cities.

Levels are now much higher than those recorded among survivors of the
nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the presenters said, citing
various studies conducted during the past decade.[. . .]In cities most heavily impacted by the war and occupation, such as
Fallujah, Basra, and Hawija, the population is experiencing “high and
persistent” levels of exposure to these toxic metals, Savabieasfahani
said. They are used in the manufacture and firing process of the US
military’s bombs, bullets, and explosives.Exposure to heavy metal nano-particles generated by exploding
munitions is a main cause of the rise in CBD and child cancer,
Savabieasfahani’s report argued. The nano-particles are inhaled and work
their way into internal tissues such as the lymph nodes. The levels
steadily build up over time because the body does not eliminate the
particles, Savabieasfahani said.“The heavy metals are more toxic than the depleted uranium,” Dr Savabieasfahani told the World Socialist Web Site. “Titanium, magnesium, lead and mercury are all heavily used by US weapons producers,” she said.Heavy metals are known to wreak havoc on the human genome, damaging
the DNA of egg and sperm cells, Savabieasfahani said. Prenatal exposure
to metals causes brain damage, and high titanium levels in children in
these areas are strongly correlated with neurodevelopment disorders.“Cancers are skyrocketing in Iraq. Leukemia is rampant, and rates of
numerous genetic pathologies are continuing to rise,” Savabieasfahani
told the WSWS.

“The numbers we have currently are probably underestimations. Poor
women in many of these cities do not report birth defects because of the
associated social stigma,” Savabieasfahani said.

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